Wire container for hay baler



Oct. 26, 1965 D. A. MURRAY ETAL 3,214,113

WIRE CONTAINER FOR HAY BALER 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 17, 1964 1965 D. A. MURRAY ETAL 3,214,113

WIRE CONTAINER FOR HAY BALER Filed Feb. 17, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Oct. 26, 1965 MURRAY ETAL 3,214,113

WIRE CONTAINER FOR HAY BALER Filed Feb. 17, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 J 39 I .i J i United States Patent 3,214,113 WIRE CONTAINER FOR HAY BALER Donald A. Murray and T. Henry Nelson, Stockton, Calif., assignors to International Harvester Company, Chicago, 11]., a corporation of New Jerse Filed Feb. 17, 1964, Ser. No. 345,329 4 Claims. (Cl. 242-129) This invention is a new and useful improvement of a wire container for a hay baler. More particularly, the improvement is a novel closure element for the wire removal slot of a wire container.

To avoid frequent shut-downs to refill the bailing wire supply, a plurality of coils of wire (usually two per needle) are carried on hay balers. The coils of wire for each needle are located side-by-side and are joined together in series to create one continuous length of wire, so that when the first coil is exhausted, wire automatically feeds from the second coil.

When the baling wire is carried on the baler in removable wire containers having wire feed openings through which the wire is threaded, the wire from the second coil feeds through the feed openings of both of its own container and the container for the first coil. In order that the empty first container may be removed without cutting the wire from the second container, a wire removal slot is provided in the walls of that container.

Prior art wire removal slots (see US. Patent 2,458,318) allow the wire to become ensnarled in the removal slot during normal operation of the baler. A removal slot that extends axially of the feed opening, for example, offers little resistance to entry of the wire, since the wire also extends axially of the opening.

It is one object of this invention, therefore, to provide a closure element for the wire removal slot of a wire container that is effective during normal operation of the baler yet facilitates removal of the empty container from the wire.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a spiral closure element for the wire removal slot of a wire container that has a smooth working surface and an effective closure action during normal operation of the baler yet allows easy removal of the container when it becomes empty.

The structural details of the present invention and its relationship to a hay baler are shown in the drawings, Where:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view which shows the general location of the wire containers on the rear side of a 3- wire hay baler;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view which shows the support for the wire containers on the hay baler of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of one of the wire containers and the relationship thereto of the wire removal slot and the novel closure element of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the novel closure element of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a slightly modified form of the novel closure element.

FIG. 6 is a view of a modified form of closure element wherein the closure element is attached to the beam supporting the wire containers rather than to the container; and

FIG. 7 is an end view of the modified structure of FIG. 6.

While the hay baler shown in FIG. 1 is a 3-wire baler, that is, has three needles, each of which has a separate wire supply, the invention presented herein can also be used on two-wire balers. The details of the baler per so being incidental to the present invention, a description thereof is incorporated here by reference to US. Patent No. 2,450,082.

The hay baler 10 (FIG. 1) has on its rearside a framework for supporting six wire containers 11, side-by-side in pairs, for holding coils of wire 12. The framework (FIG. 2) comprises two diagonal beams 13 and 14 and six cross braces 15 joined thereto. The wire containers 11 rest directly on cross braces 15.

Each wire container 11 (FIG. 3) comprises a box having two sides 16, a bottom 17, and partially-enclosing ends 18. The upper edge of each end 18 forms a bracket 19 that overlaps cross brace 15 to support the container. Spring-biased handles 20 at each end of the container 11 provide a means for hand-carrying the container and, alternately, for holding the coil of wire 12 inside the container when on the baler. The container 11 can hold either a bare coil of wire or a carton of wire.

Centrally located on each side 16 of the container 11 (FIG. 3) is a wire feed hole 21. A wire removal slot 22 runs from a point on one feed hole 21, down the side 16 of the container, across the bottom 17, and up the other side 16 to the other feed hole 21. The slot 22 could run in other directions as well as the one described (e.g., slot 22 could go upward or towards the end 18). One form of the novel closure element comprising the present invention is shown at 23.

As shown in FIG. 4, closure element 23 comprises an arcuate-shaped piece of rod or wire welded to the container side 16. The edge of hole 21 is rounded throughout its length, except at the intersection with Wire removal slot 22, thus providing a smooth surface that will not cut the wire. Closure element 23 nests in the rounded edge, and is welded thereto at one end, cantilevering over slot 22 to prevent direct access thereto by the wire. Since closure element 23 is attached to side 16 at only one end, the wire may be slipped under closure element 23 at its free end and moved into the wire removal slot 22. Both sides 16 of a container are identical.

A modified closure element (FIG. 5) comprises a split ring or closure element 24 welded to container side 16 about the straight edge feed hole 21. The quadrant of element 24 extending from split 25 down to the far side of wire removal slot 22 is unattached to side 16. At split 25, closure element 24 has two curved ends 26 to facilitate passage of wire through split 25. Thus, closure element 24 provides a smooth working surface for the wire threaded through hole 21 and prevents direct access by the wire to removal slot 22. However, since the one quadrant of element 24 is not attached to side 16, the wire may be slipped behind element 24 at split 25 and moved into the wire removal slot 22, as shown at 12'. Both container sides 16 are identical.

A further modification is shown in FIGS. 67, where closure element 39 is attached to the flange 40 of longitudinal support 13 rather than to each container 11. Closure element 39 and the hole in flange 40 have rectangular cross-sections at their point of contact to prevent rotation of element 39. The advantage of the form of FIGS. 67 is that container 11 may be removed merely by the act of lifting. In other words, with the modification of FIGS. 6-7, container 11 may be removed without first slipping the wire under closure element 39.

In operation (FIG. 2), the containers 11 with coils of wire placed therein are positioned on cross braces 15. The lead end of the coil of wire in the outboard container is passed through its inboard feed hole 21 and spliced or welded to the tail end of the strand of wire in the inboard container. The lead end of the coil of wire in the inboard container is then threaded through the inboard feed hole of that container and threaded through a) the appropriate baler needle. A continuous length of wire thus runs from the needle to the tail end of the coil of wire in the outboard container.

During the course of hay baling, the wire in the inboard container is exhausted first. However, since the ends of the inboard and outboard coils are joined together, the wire from the outboard container feeds automatically to the needle through the feed holes of the inboard container.

To replace the empty inboard container before the outboard container is empty, in the case of the forms of FIGS. 45, the inboard container can be taken off the wire 12 by sliding the wire past the novel closure element 23 or 24 on both sides 16 of the inboard container and lifting the container off of the bracing 15. The outboard container may then be moved to the inboard position and a full container placed in the outboard position and joined to the tail end of the coil of wire in the inboard container. The modified container of FIGS. 6-7 may be lifted directly from the bracing 15.

In the foregoing specification, a new and useful closure element for a wire container has been presented. Although only three forms of the closure element have been shown, it is nevertheless intended that the attached claims also cover such obvious modifications that fall within their spirit and scope.

The invention claimed is:

1. A wire container assembly for a hay baler, comprising: a supporting structure, a receptacle for holding a coil of baling wire mounted on said supporting structure, said receptacle having a side, a wire feed hole in said side, a wire removal slot in said side communicating with said feed hole, and a closure element joined to one of said supporting structure and said side adjacent said feed hole,

said closure element having a free portion and extending over said wire removal slot to prevent direct entrance of wire into said slot, said free portion coacting with said receptacle side to form a wire removal passage between said portion and said side.

2. A wire container assembly as recited in claim 1, wherein: a rounded lip is formed around the edge of said feed hole, and said closure element comprises an arcuate member nested at one end in said lip and cantilevered over said wire removal slot.

3. A wire container assembly as recited in claim 1, wherein: said closure element comprises a split ring extending around said feed hole, said split in said ring being located at a point removed from said wire removal slot, a portion of said ring extending from said split over said wire removal slot in the manner of a cantilever.

4. A wire container assembly as recited in claim 1, wherein: said closure element is a ]-shaped member attached to said supporting structure and the arcuate end of said member overlaps said wire removal slot.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,45 8,31 8 1/49 Tuft 242-8O 2,477,059 7/49 Hill 242-129 2,989,172 6/ 61 Stoll 20652 3,028,117 4/62 Shepley 242129 3,054,506 9/62 Erb 206-52 3,054,574 9/62 Buscall 242l29 3,125,312 3/64 McDufl le 242l29 MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner.

WALTER A. SCHEEL, Examiner. 

1. A WIRE CONTAINER ASSEMBLY FOR A HAY BALER, COMPRISING: A SUPPORTING STRUCTURE, A RECEPTACLE FOR HOLDING A COIL OF BALING WIRE MOUNTED ON SAID SUPPORTING STRUCTURE, SAID RECEPTACLE HAVING A SIDE, A WIRE FEED HOLE IN SAID SIDE, A WIRE REMOVAL SLOT IN SAID SIDE COMMUNICATING WITH SAID FEED HOLE, AND A CLOSURE ELEMENT JOINED TO ONE OF SAID SUPPORTING STRUCTURE AND SAID SIDE ADJACENT SAID FEED HOLE, SAID CLOSURE ELEMENT HAVING A FREE PORTION AND EXTENDING OVER SAID WIRE REMOVAL SLOT TO PREVENT DIRECT ENTRANCE OF WIRE INTO SAID SLOT, SAID FREE PORTION COACTING WITH SAID RECEPTACLE SIDE TO FORM A WIRE REMOVAL PASSAGE BETWEEN SAID PORTION AND SAID SIDE. 